Hilary's Hungry!

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Corn soup with arugula, beet, and walnut salad

Because it was Earth Day, I decided to make a vegetarian dinner. Here's how I worked it out in my head, "I don't know, I just felt like, you know, with all the stuff you read about how bad meat is for the environment, well... its a little something." It was a little difficult to do the
planning - I was really jones-ing for some bacon - but I stuck to my guns (stuck to my greens?) and made a totally vegetarian dinner!

Armed with 4 pounds of canned corn leftover from the weekend's chili making adventure, and a fresh box of produce from the CSA, I threw together a corn soup. It was FANTASTIC! Here's how it goes:

1. Heat oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in large pot.
2. Chop up one onion (I used red, but whatever you have on hand is fine) and put it in pot. (You want them fragrant and translucent - about 5 minutes.
3. While onions cook, chop 4 cloves of garlic, throw it in pot. Put them in the pot with the onions, cook until fragrant about 1 minute more.
4. Chop 5 small red potatoes into eighths, put in pot.
5. Add corn (probably 3-4 cans)
6. Pour in vegetable stock until it covers the rest of the ingredients in the pot.
7. Add salt, cayenne pepper, and saffron
8. Simmer, uncovered, for about an hour and a half - add more water if it gets too thick
9. EMULSIFY! Or blend it in the blender in small batches. (NOT big batches, trust me on this one, it is a recipe for disaster.)

While soup is simmering down:
1. Wash, peel, and slice golden beets. Put slices on baking pan, drizzle olive oil and salt on and put it in the oven. (Or if your oven refuses to work, as mine did this evening, put it into two batches and put it in the toaster oven. This does not give the same even cooking that using a big oven would have, but sometime you gotta do what you gotta do.)
2. Wash and chop arugula
3. Briefly roast walnuts
4. Make simple salad dressing of lemon, olive oil, and salt.

Happy Earth Day!

Frozen Peas!!!!

2009-04-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

Penne with Asparagus, Sage, and Peas
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/penne-with-asparagus-sage-and-peas

I was wondering through the grocery store talking to my mom on the phone (I know, sorry, I was that person.) getting her recipe for roasted cherry tomato, arugula, and mozzarella pasta and standing in wine aisle, when I saw it - March's Food & Wine. I knew it was sitting on the floor next to my bed at home, but I hadn't had a chance to look at it yet. But when I saw the cover, I suddenly had to have it for dinner - bright green asparagus, penne, and - could it be?! - PEAS! I took a closer look at the cover, "pair with Sauvignon Blanc, " it recommended, so I picked out a Sauvignon Blanc, a 2007 Simi Sonoma County, and set about putting back the armful of groceries already in my arms.

I must have looked a little nuts as I circled around the grocery store, clucking into my phone, and circling around the produce department. (They rearranged it! I couldn't find anything.) Eventually, I made it out of the grocery store and back home.

Before starting dinner, I opened the wine, and took a look at the recipe. It should come as no surprise that I did forget two of the ingredients, sage and cream. Maybe I was distracted by the perfect little peas. I decided I didn't want to go to the store again, and got to cooking.

After putting a pot of water, sea salt, and pasta on to boil, I chopped four cloves of garlic (the recipe calls for three) and cut the asparagus. For some reason, I cut the asparagus length-wise instead of "in one inch lengths," I noticed it didn't look like it did on the cover, so I grabbed some kitchen scissors and cut them right in the pan. After a couple minutes, I added two cubes of chicken bouillon and two cups of water. After letting it boil down for about five minutes, I added two cups of peas (plus a little extra :-) ). Since I forgot the cream, I added about a tablespoon of skim milk. I was hesitant to add it, because I was not sure if it would ruin the dish, but decided to wait until the whole thing was finished to try it. Finally I added the pasta to the sauce, mixed in a tablespoon of butter (the recipe calls for two, but that was all I had in the fridge) and the Parmesan cheese.

It was a delicious, light dinner. The tiny bit of milk added the perfect bit of sweetness and the food actually made the wine taste a lot better.

***Note on the picture: The picture is from the foodandwine.com. Mine was not that pretty.

Sweet Baby Blue's

2009-03-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know where the banana pudding ended and the whipped cream began. The crushed 'Nilla wafers and fresh bananas added contrasting textures to the dessert, and even though I had already eaten perfectly moist pulled pork, lightly creamed spinach, deliciously crunchy mayonnaise-less cole slaw, and a piece of fresh cornbread, and still I kept eating the banana pudding decadence. The BBQ was good, but the dessert was the best. Baby Blue's has my vote for one of the best BBQ spots in the city, although I may be basing that soley on the dessert.

http://www.babybluessf.com/

Caught Red Handed!

2009-03-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

Roasted Beet Salad with Caramelized Shallot Vinaigrette

- 3 Medium sized beets, skin on, greens detached
- 1 Head of romaine lettuce
- 1 Cup walnuts
- Feta cheese
- 1 Large shallot
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vineger
- Salt & pepper

Whoever invented that saying clearly had been calling out someone roasting beets. That juice gets everywhere! I like roasting beets because its a pretty simple process: pre-heat oven, wrap beets in foil, stab with fork, take out eventually (about an hour, depending on the size of the beets).
About an hour after I put the beets in the oven, I chopped the romaine and feta, and roasted the walnuts. I was feeling fancy today, so I chopped the shallots and caramelized them, then added some balsamic vinegar for a warm shallot vinaigrette.
Keeping an eye on the shallots, I take the beets out of the oven and put them on the counter. I unwrap the first one and start to peel. It takes all of two seconds for my hands to be covered in bright pink beet juice. I am prepared for this. As far as I know, unless you are wearing gloves, there is no way to avoid it. I am okay with this. It comes off easily, and I like the way my Ms. Myers Clean Day soap smells.
What I am not prepared for is for the remaining two beets to gush beet juice all over the counter, pool up under the cutting board, and drip all over the floor. Why was this happening? Was it because I detached the greens? Or where they just exceptionally juicy? I have no answer. Whatever the case, it looked like a vegetable horror film. But, calm your fears, everything was cleaned up, good as new. Except my feet, which remain splattered with red. I hope that comes off in the morning.

Hey Good Looking!

2009-03-25T23:32:00.000-07:00

It was about 7 o'clock at night when someone I know and love started mumbling about being hungry. It was about 7:45 by the time we made it home from the day's thrilling adventure in Union Square's Sur La Table. (No joke, it was really exciting, of course, I wanted to take everything home with me.) Assuring Adam I would in fact be able to provide a fantastic meal in a few minutes, and armed with brand new cooking tools, I headed into the kitchen.
Lucky for me, we had three sweet potatoes, a bag of yukons, an eggplant, and some yogurt in the refrigerator. Here's what happened:

Sweet and Yukon Gold Curried Mashed Potatoes wrapped in Eggplant

1. Pre-heat oven.
1a. Wash, peel, and cut into small chunks all of the potatoes and sweet potatoes.
2. Put them in water, bring to a boil, simmer until soft enough to mash
3. Wash eggplant. Using your mandolin set on "relatively" thin, slice eggplant into strips. The middle slices work best because they are the widest.
***I realize not everyone has a mandolin, or like me, has one, but perhaps had a little incident making french fries that concluded with wrapping many band-aids around her fingers. In such an event, simply slice the eggplant in half length-wise, place the flat side down, and cut slices away from you.
4. Spray the eggplant with a little bit of oil or butter. Cook eggplant ever so slightly that it becomes pliable. Put on baking sheet and set aside
5. By now, the potatoes should be ready. Drain the liquid from the potatoes.
6. Add salt, pepper, yogurt, ghee or butter, cumin, cayenne pepper, and curry power to the potatoes, all to taste.
7. Using potato masher or emulsion blender, turn the potatoes into mashed potatoes.
8. Once you have mashed potatoes to your liking, place spoonfuls onto eggplant slices.
9. Fold eggplant slices over mash, place them seam-side down on the baking sheet.
10. Put in oven and leave it there until you feel like taking it out - about 20 minutes.
11. Make couscous according to package directions.

So I make this and there are leftovers, but Adam keeps telling me how good it is and its very nice and dinner goes on. After packing it up in Tupperware and putting it in the fridge I forget that its there and leave it to languish in the refrigerator. A few days later, Adam comes home from work and he says, "Everyone wanted to know where I got my lunch today." So I asked, "Well, where did you get you lunch?" And he says, "I brought the mashed potatoes wrapped with the eggplant." And there you have it, dinner (and lunch) that's good, easy, and good-looking. (Will add pictures once I receive them.)

It Wasn't Pretty - In Defense of Chickpea Stew

2009-03-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

I imagine this is what they put in Oliver's bowl when he asked, "Please, sir, may I have some more?" Needless to say, attractive it was not.

But was it good? check. Easy? check. Did we just turn off the lights while we ate and watched "A Fish Called Wanda?" check. So it's all good.

Recently, I became the proud owner of a slow cooker a.k.a crockpot, and it may be my new favorite kitchen toy. Basically, I put a bag of dried chick peas in the slow cooker with about 5 cups of water and let them simmer until they got light and fluffy. It takes about 8 hours, and I would recommend checking them every couple of hours to make sure there is enough liquid remaining. Once they are soft add chicken stock and mash with an immulsion blender (also a favorite kitchen toy). Add about a cup and a half more of chicken stock and stir. Then I added chopped green pepper, cooked spicy sausage, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, onion and garlic powder. Let it simmer for a couple more hours. Put in bowls and top with a dash of olive oil. Serve with simple green salad. Voila! Simple, delicious chickpea stew!

Sorry, no pictures available :-)

Andele! Andele! Aziza! Aziza!

2008-11-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

In the interest of full disclosure; I spent three years totally unable to eat Moroccan food. Nary a date passed my lips since my spring break trip to Morocco, when what seemed like a delicious dinner Marrakesh's famous open air market had me curled up in ball swearing to myself I would never eat food again for two days.

So it was with some hesitation that I tried Aziza the first time, a year ago, after a die hard "foodie" recommended it during San Francisco's restaurant week. It was the only restaurant we went to that week that had more that the standard chicken, veggie, and less-expensive fish offering. Which I relieved to see after a week of looking at sub-standard restaurant week menus.

The details of this dinner is a little foggy. I remember watermelon radishes, because it was the first time I had ever seen them - they look exactly like mini-watermelons. I remember the beet, walnut, and goat cheese salad because Adam ate the goat cheese and liked it, but only because he didn't know he was eating goat cheese. I also had the beef tangine, which was cooked to perfection. And dessert, which we devoured, but I don't recall what it was.

Flash forward to last Friday: my folks were in town and I wanted to take them to a fabulous restaurant they hadn't heard about in Gourmet, Bon Appetit, of Food & Wine. Of course, right before she arrived, my mom excitedly told me she read about Aziza in Food & Wine's "Where to Go Next" list. But what can you do?

When we finally arrived, starving, we were immediately seated. The restaurant looks like something from Disney's Aladdin, all burgundies and golds, velvet booths, and dark wood tables. The service was a bit slow to start but they eventually put fresh Moroccan bread and olive oil on the table. We finally got a hold of the waiter, and by this time we were ready to order drinks and appetizers. We ordered the spreads, eggplant, piquillo-almond, yogurt dill, served with flatbread. The yogurt dill was delicious - it was thicker than a typical yogurt suace, tangy - it tasted healthy! The eggplant sauce was sweeter, with a hint of spice at the end. The picquilo almond was my least favorite, but I chalk that up my dislike of peppers. Everyone at the table had a different favorite. We also ordered the arugula with parsimmon, pomegranate, almonds, and burmuda triangle cheese, the canelli beans, ras el hanout (a blend of spices used in the Middle East and North Africa), sheep's milk feta, bread crumbs, and oregano. Finally, we ordered the basteeya - which is a puff pastry filled with almonds, beef, and cinnamon, and topped with powdered sugar. OMG it tasted like a meat doughnut, which, trust me, is delicious! We were literally fighting over the crumbs of this dish.

Some time after we were licking the suaces the drinks arrived. (Except for my mom's, who stuck to wine - her's came almost immediately.) My guess would be because they were all muddled, they took a couple of extra minutes, but they took ages to get to the table. Thank goodness they were good. My dad had the strawberry with rose papaya and teguila, I had the meyer lemon, with basil and vodka. Tasted like a lemon drop! Adam had the watermelon, with tequila, and jalepeno. My dad and I hated it (I thought it tasted like salsa), my mom and Adam loved it.

For dinner we split three dishes - although we probably should have stopped at the appetizers. First we had the cod with saffron broth, fennel, carrot, and potato. The fish was perfectly cooked and the sauce was so heady with saffron I could have drank it. We had the couscous with beef, prawns, and chicken. It was really good, but the dish didn't really shine. Finally we had the rabbit with paprika, carrot, parsnip, and dried cherries. I don't think there was anything but bones left.

We ended up walking the 45 blocks back.

http://www.aziza-sf.com/

"Lay Off Me, I'm Starving!"

2008-10-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/CHICKEN-AND-PARSNIP-FRIES-WITH-SPICY-VINEGAR-241485

Between cocktail hour and Greek, dinner was looking bleak. It was 8:30 p.m. when Adam got home, grumpy dinner was not waiting for him.

"So," he grumbled, "Are we not eating dinner at home tonight?"

"No, no," I apologized, "Give me thirty minutes." I felt bad because I had promised to make dinner, so I rushed to the kitchen. Glad, when I picked up the knife, that I had declined that third raspberry champagne dream.

Seriously, this one was a winner. "Chicken and Parsnip "Fries" with Spicy Vinegar," courtesy of epicurious.com, and the fact that our CSA (community supported agriculture) box delivered parsnips. I didn't get home until late - I was dying to hear about Katie's date with someone from my office (fyi - he was a dud) - and of course when Adam came home twenty minutes later he was starving. So thank goodness this recipe is quick and easy .

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

The hardest part is cutting up the parsnips. To peel and quarter long-wise is no easy feat. (Once again, my knife skills are not so good.) But I did it with no major issues or bleeding. I think the hardest part was the first cut on some of the bigger ones. I ended up holding the skinny end to the cutting board, then I put my knife into the skinny end and dragged it toward me. I had to move my hand to the fat end to keep the cut straight, and tried to keep a steady hand. I am sure there is a better way to do it, but it was beyond me. ( I am still smarting from the butternut squash gash from the night before.) It is important that the parsnips are cut pretty thin; the crunchy ones are definitely the best. Toss those little guys into a baking pan with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and put them in the oven while you prep the chicken.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken thighs - chicken breasts seemed really big and the thighs were a much more manageable size. When the oil starts to smoke, lay the chicken, skin-side down, in the pan. (No cutting!) The skin will start to get super crispy and look like fried chicken...mmm, fried chicken. When it looks crispy and delicious skin-side, take it from the pan and put the chicken skin side up on top of the parsnips. Put it back in the oven for twenty minutes. (It's about this time that I hear, "hey, babe! Is dinner ready yet?!" come from the living room. It has been ten minutes.)

Using the pan that cooked the chicken - complete with rendered chicken fat and oil remnants. (I actually put too much oil in when I made it, so the sauce didn't come out totally perfect. I share so you do not make the same mistakes I did.) Add vinegar and red pepper flakes to pan. Bring to a boil and stir for thirty seconds. This sauce is my new favorite things - the acidity of the vinegar burns off and the heat of the red pepper flakes sneaks up on you.

When chicken and parsnips are done, pour vinegar sauce on top. Nothing but compliments from Complain-y McGee. Delish!

Thomas Kellerman's Gnocci with Mushrooms and Butternut Squash

2008-10-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/GNOCCHI-WITH-MUSHROOMS-AND-BUTTERNUT-SQUASH-231343

Bouchon it was not, but for a vegetarian Wednesday night it fit the bill. I pulled this recipe from epicurious.com without looking at it too closely. Basically, it fit the criterion: it needed to have butternut squash in it and it was vegetarian. Except it turned out that the CSA delivered acorn squash (which Adam was kind enough to remind me I specifically ordered) and Lucky's grocery store does not sell gnocci. But whats making dinner without a couple of setbacks? I figured the acorn squash would be fine and, miracle of all miracles, the market around the corner sold whole wheat gnocci (sorry, Tom, I am not making fresh pasta when ANTM is on).
A glance at the recipe, and I thought I could have it ready before Tyra started parading her crazy all over the CW. The truth of the matter is I grossly underestimated the strength and stamina it takes to hack an acorn squash into 1/2 inch cubes. Seriously, between manuvering the peeler around all of the clefts in the gourd and trying to get a knife through it, I might as well have been felling a redwood. Still, my love of squashes perserved and slowly I has formed a pile of mostly 1/2 inch cuberectangle. My knife skills were found lacking in this particular exercize but it wasn't until the second time I cut my hand did I give up. I definatly did not come up with the three cups the recipe recommended.
After heating up the canola oil, then adding the butternut squash, then butter, then sage (I used 6 big leaves instead to the recommended 12 small). I kept an eye on it to make sure it all cooked without getting too brown while I sliced the shallot. Once the squash mixture turned golden and smelled good, I put it on a plate lined with paper towels next to the stove. I wiped out the pan, put another coat of canola oil on, and added the sliced portobello mushroom until it soaked up all of the oil in the pan. Then I added the butter, sliced shallots, sprinkled some dried thyme, and salt and pepper. Once that was all cooked - I left the shallots a little underdone for texture - I put it on the plate with the squash.
Tom says the gnocci should be cooked in two pans, but because I don't have a dishwasher I only use one and, as Tim Gunn says, make it work. The gnocci, which I cooked for a couple of minutes, is added to the skillet with browned butter in it. After the gnocci is browned, I added the acorn squash and the mushroom mixture to the pan until warmed then I put it in two bowls.
Finally, I cleaned out the pan again, melted some butter until it browned and put the sage leaves back in until they were crispy. I purposely left out the chives and parseley, and I totally missed when to add the lemon.
Not French Laundry, but darn good. (however, after dinner we realized that the gnocci we bought at the corner store had expired in 01/2008, so I hope I am okay in the morning.)

buen provecho!

Worlds Collide

2008-10-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

"Let's have gooey duck." I look over at the tank overflowing with what looks like donkey schlongs, "Eh, I don't think I know how to cook that," I reply. "You promised you'd make it for me," he pouts. I counter,"It's so phallic; maybe if you get it and cut it up I will be able to make it." This, for some reason brings on a fit of giggles from my boyfriend Adam (I am guessing because I used the word "phallic"), "ok, ok - What do you want for dinner?"

Right then I might as well have slapped myself in the face with a penis-shaped mollusk, "Fettuccine with Clam Sauce?" There is a huge tank of clams in front of me, which is probably where I got the idea. The problem, however, is that we are in a crowded Chinese grocery store - and all of a sudden my heart is set on the Italian dish my mom makes. The fish-section stench of the grocery store hits me, and I realize that is not what we are going to have. Adam insists we use "fresh" clams which, despite their label, are freezing cold and hard as rocks but I acquiesce because I have been promising him for years that I would make gooey duck, and have yet to do so. So I decide to do an Oriental fettuccine with clam sauce - ramen noodles instead of fettuccine, add in some bok choy, and seafood broth instead of clam juice (which I couldn't find in the store). I am pretty sure that the white wine I am planning to use has turned to vinegar by now, but I'll make due. We'll see how it turns out...

Never ever, ever, ever use quasi-frozen clams - even if they do say fresh on them - they had a milky, kind of snotty taste to them. On the flip side, if I picked all of those out, the rest was pretty taste. The fresh pasta was a hit, and the straw mushrooms really balanced out the strong flavor of the clams. I also added red chile pepper flakes that gave it a nice kick. Served it with garlic stir-fried baby bok choy. Adam was happy - hopefully, he forgot about the gooey duck.

Ramen with Clam Sauce
- 1 package fresh ramen (available at Chinese grocery stores)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- Fresh clams (let's just say a bunch), rinsed and scrubbed to get the sand and other dubious things off
- four garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- two cans of clams
- 1 can straw mushrooms (optional)
- 2-3 cups clam juice or seafood broth
- 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (less or more, to taste)
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- Water for pasta
- salt

- Put salt and water in pot to boil
- Heat oil in large sauce pan
- Add garlic and red pepper flakes to oil, cook until it softens
- Add both cans of clams, do not drain.
- Add straw mushrooms (drain juice from can)
- Add clam juice or broth. Bring to boil.
- Once clam sauce is boiling add fresh clams. Clams are fully cooked when they are all opened. (Do not force open those that do not open after five minutes or so - those are food poisoning in a shell)
-Add fresh pasta to boiling salt water, cook according to package instructions.
- Add drained pasta to clam sauce, or mix together in a big bowl
- Enjoy!

xoxo, Hil